Saranya
I woke up to a pounding head and no recollection of where I was or why I felt so terrible.
Did I have the flu? I cracked my eyes open.
The light was bright and made my head hurt worse, so I closed them.
As I lay there, I searched my memory. Sluggishly, bits and pieces of scenes began to fill my mind.
As they did, my pulse sped up. As more came to the surface, I was drawn back to the barn.
Owen and I entered the dilapidated barn. It looked almost as bad as the house. Who in the world lived here? No wonder Jordan needed help. There was no telling what condition the animal he was treating was in. When he asked for my assistance, he hadn’t mentioned what kind of animal it was.
“Jordan?” I called out.
“Back here. I’m in the rear stall,” he responded.
Heading that way, Owen was trailing me. I was close to the back of the barn when I heard a thumping sound and a groan behind me.
Whipping around, I saw Owen fall to the ground.
Standing behind him, with a hammer in his hand, was Jordan.
I was stunned. Before I shook off the shock, Jordan had a gun trained on me.
“Stay still, Sari. Do what I say. I don’t want to hurt you. If you don’t behave, then your little tech will get more than a knot on his head. I’ll put a bullet through it. It’s your choice. What’ll it be?”
I refused to get Owen killed, not even to save myself, so I remained still. As Jordan walked closer to me, I blurted out the pressing question.
“Jordan, what are you doing? You have no reason to harm us. What have we done to you?”
“Owen, he’s done nothing but be in my way. He’s standing between you and me. As for you, you didn’t listen to me, Sari.”
“When didn’t I listen?”
“You know when. Don’t play dumb. Turn around with your hands behind your back,” he demanded.
Goosebumps stood on my skin at his order. However, when I hesitated, he swung his gun back toward Owen.
“Please! Don’t shoot him. I’ll do it,” I vowed before presenting my back to him.
I bit my lower lip to hold in my whimper as he ensnared my wrists.
I refused to let Jordan hear my fear. The key was to stall him for as long as I could.
Maybe Cowboy would get off work earlier than planned, and he’d be here soon.
I knew it was unlikely, but I had to hold on to hope.
Cold metal closed around my wrists. I’d never been handcuffed before, but that had to be what it was. Jordan spun me around to face him.
He stared at me. “I’ve waited so long for this, Sari. You have no idea how long. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but you forced it.”
“Forced it? How? You’re not making any sense, Jordan. Undo these, and let’s sit and talk. I’m sure we can reach a compromise if we do. What do you want?”
“No, you’ll stay in those until I know I can trust you. Tell me, did you tell Olivia and Maggie where you and Owen were headed?”
I lied, unsure if I said yes, he wouldn’t try to harm them. “No, I didn’t. Other than to say we were meeting you to assist with a case. They knew Dad and Mom were out of town. I told Owen, as we were leaving, where we were headed. He followed me.”
He stood there, watching my face. I was working so hard not to give away the lie. Abruptly, he sighed, and the tension eased in his shoulders. “Good. I’d hate to have to silence them. What about that dirty biker? Does he know you left? Where you were headed?”
Again, I lied. However, this time, Jordan seemed not to believe me. “Where’s your phone?”
When I refused to say, he roughly patted his hands over my jacket and my jean pockets.
I hated his touch. He found it in my left back pocket.
Pulling it out, he saw that my phone required a fingerprint to unlock it.
It wasn’t hard for him to force my finger to the screen. His swearing told me he found the text.
“You fucking lied, Sari. That’s not to be tolerated. You must always tell me the truth. No matter, we’ll just move a little sooner than planned. Today is the last time you’ll see that motherfucker. He’s kept us apart long enough,” he growled.
Panicking, I shot toward the barn door. I made it three feet before he hauled me back against his chest. One arm wrapped me tightly to him. I screamed, kicked, and tried to headbutt him, but he was too tall to get his face. I fought until a sting to the side of my neck distracted me.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Just a little relaxer. It’ll make you go to sleep, but no worries, when you wake up, we’ll be alone at last.” He cackled. At that moment, as things began to tilt, I knew he was insane, and my life was truly in danger.
Recalling that, my eyelids flew open again.
I squinted against the glare until the sensitivity faded.
As it did, I scanned the place I was in.
It was a bedroom. I was lying on a bed. My hands were no longer cuffed behind me.
Instead, they were secured in front of me.
My legs were free, at least. I took several deep breaths to prevent myself from freaking out and hyperventilating.
The first thing was to find a way out of these handcuffs and then out of this place.
Once I was free of them, I’d hunt for somewhere to hide.
Or, if I were lucky and neighbors were nearby, I’d head there.
If I weren’t able to get loose and away, then I’d stall and pray that by some miracle, Cowboy would find me.
He’d told me about how good Micro was at finding information and even people.
And if he couldn’t, then they had friends who would.
His story about Storm and his old lady, Everly, in Dublin Falls, had stunned me when he told me about them.
Additionally, I had to remember that Electra was a former FBI agent who now worked for another agency, although supposedly no one knew which one.
Wiggling my body closer to the edge of the bed, I rolled onto my hip.
Then, I swung my legs off the bed. When my feet touched the floor, I used my restrained hands as much as possible to press myself up.
It was my core strength that eventually allowed me to sit straight.
Man, what I wouldn’t give for a hairpin and a gun.
The pin to hopefully pick the lock on the cuffs and the gun to shoot Jordan’s ass with.
Besides the bed, the room contained a small bedside table with two drawers and a clothing dresser with five drawers.
There were two closed doors. One led to the exit, and the other undoubtedly to a closet or bathroom.
The question was, which was which. Getting to my feet, I scooted as quietly as I could in my work boots to the bedside table.
Opening the first drawer, I found nothing in it, nor in the next one.
“Fuck,” I muttered before making my way over to the dresser.
The top drawer squeaked as I tugged it open.
I froze, straining my ears to see if I heard footsteps or a shout.
Nothing. Peering inside, I found it empty.
With each successive drawer I opened, I paused and then searched.
I came up empty-handed. Spinning around, I examined the room before making my way to the first door.
I turned the knob. It wouldn’t budge. I guess I found the exit.
Moving over to the second door, I tried that handle.
It opened. Just as I thought, it was a closet.
It was bare, and there wasn’t even a clothes hanger in it.
Christ, would it be too much to ask to find an ink pen or a fingernail file?
Anything that I might be able to use as a weapon against Jordan.
A faint sound caught my attention. Straining, I heard what I thought was footsteps.
Closing the closet door, I tiptoed back to the bed, where I moved myself back onto it.
I closed my eyes. Pretending to be still unconscious might earn me more time to plot.
It was worth a try. There was a clicking sound, then footsteps coming closer.
I steeled myself not to respond, no matter what was done to me. I had to buy time. Somehow, I resisted flinching when a hand touched my face. It ran down to my neck, then my upper chest. God, it was incredibly difficult not to move or alter my breathing.
“Jesus, you’re so beautiful, Sari. I should’ve claimed you long ago. I waited too long. But you’re with me now. You’re mine, and I’ll soon make you forget that filthy biker. He’ll pay for touching what’s mine,” his last words were snarled.
I thought I was busted. He knew I was awake.
However, I kept pretending. I was stunned when his hand moved, then more footsteps followed, then the click again.
I waited several moments before cracking my eyelids open.
A perusal showed I was alone. I breathed a sigh of relief and opened them all the way—time to get myself away from this lunatic. I would never be his.